THOUGHTS FROM OUR HEAD OF SCHOOL, JOSEPH VORBACH:
Last week I mentioned the Sophomore service retreat and I thought I should report back on my experience at the Lamb Center with ten of our students. We were given a tour of the facility in Fairfax so we could better understand all of the services they provide for the homeless, then we participated in a Bible study with clients and volunteers. Some students were then asked to help prepare and serve lunch while the rest of us went upstairs to sort clothing. We ate lunch with clients of the Center before spending some time outside doing some cleanup and weeding. Before returning to Bishop O'Connell, we stopped at Cameron's Coffee, a small business that employs men and women with intellectual and cognitive disabilities. All of these experiences helped reinforce the Catholic Social Justice teachings we focused on before departing -- options for the poor and vulnerable, the dignity of work and rights of workers, the dignity of life and the human person. I believe our eyes and our hearts were opened further and I am glad to have had that experience with our students.
Some quick references if you have time to look more deeply: First, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's learning resources on Catholic Social Teaching: http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.cfm. Second, here is a nice video about Cameron's Chocolates that is worth a few minutes of your time: http://every1canwork.com/about/.
The Pops concert was excellent last Thursday and the Choir concert on Tuesday of this week was equally so. The teachers poured themselves into the challenge and the students responded wonderfully. They are so talented and it really is a beautiful thing to behold when they make music so wonderfully together.
The last big thing of the week was the Living Rosary to conclude our annual soup drive. Led by our Student Council Executive Board, the students collected 15,187 cans...what we believe to be an all-time record for the school. Thank you parents and guardians for helping us accomplish this goal! The students who delivered the soup to the St. Lucy Project warehouse learned immediately of where the soup was going in the Diocese and how impactful the donation would be for up to an entire year. As we prayed at the Living Rosary, please continue to pray for all those who need and will benefit from this soup.